May 30, 2025

On May 30, 2025, Fighting4Freeport and Mayor Jodi Miller received an official response from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office confirming that the May 19th Freeport City Council meeting did not violate the Open Meetings Act. While this legal clarification settles one question, it raises many more about the judgment, honesty, and competence of Freeport’s city leadership.

This controversy began when four alderpeople—Stacy, Monroe, Sanders, and Simmons—stood up for Freeport demanding answers about the legality of and the reasons for the recent actions of Mayor Jodi Miller. Concerns the rose and were shared by many residents after the original meeting agenda disappeared from the city’s website and over $11 million in spending was approved under unclear circumstances.

The Truth We Weren’t Getting from City Hall

To get the answers City Hall wasn’t providing, Fighting4Freeport submitted a formal letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on May 22, 2025. We included the original agenda (before it was deleted) and a link to the meeting’s YouTube recording. We didn’t speculate. We presented facts and asked for legal clarity.

On May 30 at 2:15 PM, Assistant Attorney General Katie Goldsmith responded: Mayor Miller does count as a member of council for quorum purposes. Her presence, alongside four alderpeople, satisfies the five-member quorum requirement.

What This Means—and Why It’s a Problem

Yes, the meeting was legal.

But that raises a much deeper concern: why doesn’t Freeport’s leadership know this?

Mayor Miller has been in office for eight years. The City Attorney is paid to know and interpret municipal law. Yet meetings have been paused or canceled repeatedly over supposed quorum issues—including a recent case where the Mayor delayed and then canceled a meeting while waiting on Alderman Monroe, even though state law clearly allowed the meeting to proceed.

Even more troubling, after learning of the council’s plan to hold the mayor accountable, city officials claimed that Alderwoman Johnson had to be secretly sworn in to satisfy quorum—something we now know wasn’t necessary. If the law was this clear all along, why the games?

The Response? More Deflection, Not Accountability

Within hours of receiving the Attorney General’s ruling, Mayor Miller took to Facebook—not to share the ruling, but to play the victim. Instead of owning the mistake and correcting the record, she doubled down on the secret swearing-in narrative and labeled the press conference held by four elected council members as a “publicity stunt.”

Let’s be clear: requesting clarity, protecting taxpayer funds, and standing up for the truth is not a stunt. It’s their job.

What kind of leadership dismisses fact-finding and public concern as political theater?

Time to Demand Better

After years of secrecy, confusion, and apparent disregard for legal basics, Freeport deserves more than business as usual.

We call on the City of Freeport to:

• Require mandatory legal training for all elected officials

• Replace the City Attorney with one who understands and applies the law

• Restore public trust by acknowledging errors and correcting the record—not doubling down on misinformation

This wasn’t just a misunderstanding. It was a clear demonstration of either ignorance or indifference—and neither has a place in Freeport’s future.

Fighting4Freeport remains committed to transparency, integrity, and accountability. We will continue to educate our neighbors, ask the tough questions, and stand with those who demand honest, competent government.

📢 Join us. Attend the next City Council meeting. Speak up. Ask questions.
📩 Read the full Attorney General’s letter .
📞 Contact your alderperson and tell them it’s time Freeport got back on track.

Because legal doesn’t always mean right—and Freeport deserves both.